Events, Open Houses, & Camp Fairs
Beginning after the new year we’ll be hosting public programs for campers and their families, and for anyone else interested in experiencing a ‘taste of camp’ before summer begins.
Winter Tales with Chuck Stead
Saturday, January 17th. Noon – 1 pm.
Chuck Stead is a master storyteller, weaving a web of characters and scenes from his childhood growing up in the nearby Ramapo Mountains. Populated by animals, spirits, mountain people, and more, Chuck’s tales are knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud funny, goose-bump inducing in their poignancy, and enjoyed thoroughly by children and adults alike.
Maple Sugaring
Saturday, February 28th. 10 – 11 am and 2 – 3 pm.
Join The Nature Place as we learn all about maple trees and maple syrup, tap our own trees and taste the sap, watch sap boiling over a fire, and then taste freshly made, hot maple syrup over ice (accompanied by a dill pickle, of course). Participants will take home their own spouts, along with instructions on how to tap maple trees and make syrup at home.
This year we’re offering this program twice, once at 10 am and then again at 2 pm.
Outragehisss Pets
Saturday, March 28th. Noon – 1 pm.
If you like animals, then this program will have you barking, chirping, and roaring with glee. Every summer at camp Outragehisss Pets brings their multitude of animals to The Nature Place, and now you can get your hands furry without waiting until June. Join us for an hour of snakes, spiders, chinchillas, and an array of other surprising animals.
Spring Peeper Hunt
Saturday, May 2nd. 7:30 – 9 pm.
As darkness falls The Nature Place will lead intrepid explorers into the swamp in search of spring peepers – tiny frogs with big voices pealing out into the warm spring air. Using our ears and echo-locating abilities, and equipped with boots, flashlights, and a sense of adventure, we’ll search for spring peepers by following the loud ‘peep!’ of their mating call through the hillocks and brambles of a nearby wetland. Come prepared to have fun and get a little dirty!
Open Houses
The best way to learn more about The Nature Place is by coming to an open house. We’ll take you on a tour of camp, give you a full picture of what we do and why we do it, and answer your questions about the ins and outs of camp.
Open Houses are located at Green Meadow Waldorf School, 307 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY, and you can stop by any time between 1 and 4 pm.
Saturday, January 17th
Sunday, February 15th
Saturday, February 28th (this open house runs from 11 am – 2 pm)
Sunday, March 15th
Saturday, March 28th
Sunday, April 12th
Sunday, April 26th
Saturday, May 9th
Sunday, May 24th
Camp Fairs
Do you live in Manhattan or Brooklyn and want to find out more about The Nature Place? Come meet us at a camp fair, ask us questions about camp in person, and get a feeling for what we do. All camp fairs run from Noon until 3 pm.
Saturday, December 6th
Upper East Side – St. Jean Baptiste High School
173 East 75th Street
Sunday, December 7th
Upper West Side – Ethical Culture Fieldston School
33 Central Park West
Saturday, January 24th
Upper East Side – St. Jean Baptiste High School
173 East 75th Street
Sunday, January 25th
Upper West Side – Congregation Rodeph Sholom
7 West 83rd Street
Saturday, February 7th
Morningside Heights – Bank Street School
610 West 112th Street
Sunday, February 8th
Cobble Hill – Brooklyn Heights Montessori School
185 Court Street
Saturday, March 7th
Tribeca – Borough of Manhattan Community College
199 Chambers Street
Saturday, March 8th
Park Slope – Berkeley Carroll School
181 Lincoln Place
Saturday, March 28th
Upper East Side – St. Jean Baptiste High School
173 East 73rd Street
Sunday, March 29th
Upper West Side – Congregation Rodeph Sholom
7 West 83rd Street